Consider Jif peanut butter

First, Jif is peanut butter. It is sold in four styles. Creamy, Crunchy, extra Crunchy and reduced sugar.

The brand name is Jif. But P&G understands what a brand IS. They know that when consumers shop for like-products they measure a few values. One is price. As a result, Jif must be priced within the price elasticity of the category.

So Jiff can’t sell for twice as much as a competitor’s brand. It is in the range that the category considers FAIR.

Jif won’t claim that its peanut butter is more easily spread. Or, how it compliments jelly. These are TABLE STAKES in the category. You can’t be a peanut butter and not have those attributes.

”Procter and Gamble quickly figured it out. Taste was important but the most important reason Moms bought Jif was found in the brand promise. Jif promised choosy mothers choose Jif.”

The ah-ha moment for Jif

When the brand first launched, Jif primarily claimed that it “tastes more like fresh peanuts.”

If you’re old enough to remember the advertising, Jif used a demo to drive home this difference.

Using special effects, whole peanuts were on the bread and, when a knife passed over them, they changed to peanut butter. They ended the spot with the words “that’s why choosey mothers choose Jif.”

P&G knows how to sell

Procter and Gamble quickly figured it out. Taste was important but the most important reason Moms bought Jif was found in the brand promise.

Jif promised choosy mothers choose Jif.

Everything else they said was used to support that claim. Choosy mothers choose Jif because—

Freshest taste, better taste, more like fresh peanuts and so on.

The brand was and is— Choosy Mothers.

“Business-to-Business brands always think of themselves in concrete terms. They see what they sell as tangible. And they regard rebranding as silly and frivolous.”

A real brand sells an IDEA not a product

The BIG idea was that being a choosy mother was MORE important than any other attribute. Shoppers sought out the brand. And they paid more for it. All to reinforce the feeling that they were better moms.

It allowed Jif to sell at the highest price in the category. It was more important than any other claim Jif could make to build preference.

And it was about the MOTHER. Not the PRODUCT.

B2B rebranding contains many of the same branding rules

Business-to-Business brands always think of themselves in concrete terms. They see what they sell as tangible. And they regard rebranding as silly and frivolous.

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